Gilas vs. Bahrain Recap & Highlights:
Gilas Pilipinas Defeated Bahrain in the Asian Games opener after Justin Brownlee, CJ Perez, and Ange Kouame got off to a rousing start, leading the Philippine national men’s basketball team in thrashing Bahrain with the final score of 89-61 in Hangzhou, China.
Veteran PBA import and naturalized Filipino player Justin Brownlee top-scored for Gilas with 20 points despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter of the game against Bahrain.
The Gilas Pilipinas squad is attempting to win its first Asian Games basketball mead in the last 25 years. The Philippines will play against Thailand on Thursday when they take on Southeast Asian rival Thailand.
Thailand suffered an earlier defeat against Jordan, led by their naturalized player Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, scoring just 63 against the 97 points of the Jordanian national team.
The national team of Thailand is the bronze medalist in the recently concluded Southeast Asian Games. Thai-Americans Frederick Lish and Tyler Lamb led the team with 13 and 11-point production, respectively.
If Gilas Pilipinas could also defeat the Thai squad, they could lead Group C regarding team standing and give Gilas head coach Time Cone time to further integrate the new players into his system in preparation for the game against Jordan on Saturday.
Gilas Pilipinas vs. Bahrain Highlights:
Newly installed Gilas head coach Tim Cone fielded Chris Newsome, Justin Brownlee, June Mar Fajardo, Calvin Oftana, and Scottie Thompson against the Bahrain national basketball team headed by former PBA import Wayne Chism. Still, the one-time Best Import took six attempts and finished only with five points. He rarely asked for the ball and was just contented in grabbing the rebounds for Bahrain.
During the Gilas Pilipinas vs. Bahrain game, the Middle Eastern team lived and died by the three, taking a whopping 38 attempts from beyond the arc and converting 12 when compared to the Gilas squad, who scored 7-of-21 from downtown.
Gilas Pilipinas vs. Bahrain Highlights Video:
Bahrain drew its offense from an interesting troika of guards, brothers Ali and Mustapha Rashed and Maitham Jameel Almoathin. All three shot 8-of-27 from beyond the arc and combined for 39 of Bahrain’s 61 points.
The Bahrain National team was no match against the Gilas Pilipinas big men and naturalized players Justin Brownlee and Ange Kouame, who showcased their skills against the smaller Bahraini squad.
Brownlee provided offense from the perimeter and in transition. At the same time, Kouame asserted himself in the post on both ends, which favored the nationals because Bahrain has no legitimate center and big men. The Middle Eastern squad was forced to foul a lot against Gilas.
Gilas Pilipinas Schedules for Asian Games Basketball:
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